


Book One: Gathering

by seaunicorn



Series: Orphan Benders [1]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Crossover, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-23
Updated: 2014-08-10
Packaged: 2018-02-05 20:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1831057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seaunicorn/pseuds/seaunicorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Orphan Black/ATLA crossover. Sarah is a banished Fire Nation princess, who meets Freedom Fighters Mrs. S and Felix in the slums of Ba Sing Se.  They travel together recruiting people from all nations to join their little ragtag band of warriors to stop Fire Lord Marion's plan to expand.  Co-written with justslayin on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter was written by Tumblr user justslayin!

It had been eight months.

Sarah didn’t think about her age. She didn’t think about where she was. She didn’t think about what her mother expected her to do out in the world.

Sarah thought about how the people that she trusted to love her decided not to. She thought about the two people she spent all of her twelve years with, and how quickly they decided she wasn’t worth the air she was breathing. Her mother, and her sister.  

What are they doing now, she thought, teeth clenched. Mother, in a council meeting, drawing up plans to be a royal bitch everywhere she shouldn’t be. Sarah took three deep breaths and looked at her feet. Her dirty, dust-caked shoes that weren’t made to be treated so roughly.

Helena didn’t have a speck of dust on her shoes.

The packed dirt street of the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se was rough under her feet. It was noisy. Poor merchants and beggars clamored on both sides of the street while passers by hurried through the middle. How fast would I be swarmed if these people knew who I was?

Another hot flash of anger rolled through Sarah and she clenched her fists, feeling hot at the fingers.

She had a small crew on the ship her mother sent her off in, but no one on the boat cared about her. They tried to, professionally, but none of them did. It wasn’t hard to wander off. Her crew knew she had a temper. They knew they would get flayed if they tried to stop her going off the boat. That’s what Sarah liked them to think but if it came to it, she didn’t think she could hurt a single one of them. It didn’t matter anyway.

When Sarah was alone, it was easier to be mad. It was easier to stew.

When her mother cast her off, blushing furiously from rage with tears slowly rolling from her eyes, she promised herself she wouldn’t stop being angry. She would remember what her mother did, why exactly she was sent away. She wouldn’t forget the hatred and cruelty she saw during her last few days as a member of the Fire Nation.

_It was today._

_Sarah held still, Helena clutching her hand. They sat in chairs next to each other, gazing into a mirror as two women stood behind them, putting their hair up into the traditional bun worn for big events. Sarah was almost done, but her attendant drew out the process to give her counterpart time to tame Helena’s frizzy mane._

_They had been cleaned, dressed and perfected for today._

_They, for the first time, were going to sit in on a council meeting. They were going to watch their mother, Firelord Marion, do the work they would be doing in six years. Today, the twins were going to start their future._

_Sarah could understand why this was important to their mother and the Fire Nation, but she didn’t want to do this. She didn’t care. What she was going to do was walk in, sit, and try to look respectful while not being allowed to interrupt her mother or talk to her sister._

_Helena seemed more eager. Eager, or anxious. She wouldn’t let go of her sisters hand. It made Sarah wonder if Helena knew something that she didn’t. If she had keyed in to the true significance of the thing while Sarah was left wondering why they were going in the first place._

_What they both knew was that their mother was very pleased that they were starting their careers serving the Fire Nation now. She was excited that they’d see her at work._

_They were escorted to the meeting room that their mother and the Fire Nation council waited in. This had been planned. Helena made Sarah practice with her, even though they both knew exactly the simple tasks expected from them._

_The twins entered the room and bowed to their mother, and then the council. They walked to the seats reserved for them, next to each other at the edge of the table. They sat, and the meeting began._

_There was a subtle, new vigor about their mother as she spoke. Marion was peacocking for her only children. She showed them the power that she held, that she intended to pass on to them. She held the council’s attention completely. They respected her. Helena watched with rapturous intent. Sarah tried to look polite._

_Sarah wanted this to go by quickly, she intended to listen on and off, but a few words out of her mothers mouth caught her attention. Sarah listened for a minute longer, eyebrows knotted in confusion and frustration before she spoke up._

_“Firelord Marion,” she said, using her mother’s title to try and stay vaguely professional. All eyes turned to her. Marion’s eyes burned, but had a glimmer of hope that her daughter had interrupted to say something intelligent and worthwhile. Helena glared at her. “Did you say that you want to… expand?” Sarah’s tone was quizzical. Marion’s gaze hardened._

_“That’s what I said, Sarah.”_

_“Why? Did one of the other nations declare war?” Sarah was speaking freely now, and the members of the council started to exchange looks. She was treading thin ice and she knew it, but it was a position she’d been in before._

_“No,” Marion responded, steely and truthful. Sarah stood up, and Helena grabbed her calf and dug her blunt fingernails in, warning her to be quiet._

_“Do we not have enough land? Or food? What- what’s going on?” Sarah demanded, her questioning tone slowly melting into something more authoritative. Marion raised her chin._

_“Sarah, sit down. You’re disrespecting me. You’re disrespecting your sister, and the members of the council. This is an opportunity I reluctantly granted to the both of you, and you are behaving very poorly.”_

_“But that’s not right,” Sarah insisted, pointing at the plans Marion had laid out on the table. “What’ve they done? There’s no free land. What’re you gonna do? Take over villages? Towns? What?”_

_“You couldn’t understand the complexities of this if you tried. Feel grateful that you’re here to hear this.”_

_“I am grateful I can hear this because I can tell you how bad of an idea it is!”_

_Marion walked to her daughter, grabbed her arm and took her out of the room. She pulled her into a side hallway and they fought. An attendant came and took Helena out of the room as the council sat and waited for their leader to come back and continue the meeting. Sarah shouted and screamed until they weren’t fighting about the Fire Nation’s expansionist plans, but they were just fighting. Time dragged on and Marion’s patience grew thinner and thinner. Every time she tried to settle her daughter down she came back fighting harder. Sarah got personal, systematically shouting about everything she hated her mother for. Some of it was true, but some of it was exaggeration in the heat of the moment. She had dug herself into a hole, and Marion was furious with her. Hours passed before Sarah was free to go. When she walked back to her own room, her clothes were scorched, her face was ruby red and she could hardly breathe._

_“You are banished. You are not welcome in my house or my kingdom.”_

_Her mother had spit those words at her._

_Helena said nothing to her sister before she left the next day, set out on a ship and unable to return unless she did something that could make up for the disrespect she showed her mother._

_Sarah knew it was a trap. She knew it couldn’t be done._

Sarah broke her reverie to smack a little, grubby hand away from her. She glared at a pale boy who quickly slipped back behind a merchants cart. Sarah grunted and kept walking, not sure exactly where to head from here.

A few minutes later she saw the same form slip behind her. It was a skinny boy, tall for his age (which seemed to be a good few years younger than Sarah), with brown hair. He brushed past her, hand skimming her just for a moment. She caught his wrist in a death grip.

“Knock it off,” she warned, staring into his eyes for just a moment. He nodded and ducked away again.

Sarah walked on, momentarily distracted by the little boy and realizing how hungry she was. She started looking around for a restaurant or a cart selling food when she felt a slight breeze against her hip, next to the little pouch full of money she kept.

But it wasn’t windy.

Sarah growled and grabbed the boy again, this time by his forearm and dragged him into the alley between the nearest two shops.

“Hey, lay off, alright?” Sarah said, shoving the boy away from her.

“Really? Should I?” he responded sarcastically, turning to walk away. Sarah sucked in a breath and sent a stream of fire at his foot. When he felt the heat he jumped away, and looked back up at her with fear in his eyes.

“Oi, what was that?” he demanded, suddenly panicky as Sarah sent another flame at his feet. He hopped out of the way this time, just narrowly.

“You like to steal from girls in the bad part of town?” Sarah asked, scowling as she sent a dart of fire at his hand. The boy drew away quickly, but it grazed his pinky and he winced. “Maybe now you’re getting what’s coming to you, yeah?”

She sent one more flame at his other hand, just to balance things out, when she heard a woman’s voice ring down the alleyway.

“Hey hey hey! What’s going on here?” the woman nearly shouted, distracting Sarah enough so that she could dart in front of the little boy. She eyed Sarah as a potential threat, making sure not to underestimate the firebending she just saw. She looked strong even though she was aging, and her typical Earth Nation garb was worn thin.

“Felix, is this girl hurting you?” she asked the boy behind her without taking her eye of Sarah, who was standing tall as possible for a twelve year old girl.

“Yeah, almost!” Felix exclaimed. The woman broke her eye contact to look at him.

“Were you doin’ anything to deserve it?” she asked him. Sarah relaxed a bit. She was his mother or something, and they had obviously been in this situation before. Hopefully she would just take him and leave her alone.

“Not really…” he mumbled.

“He was trying to steal my money,” Sarah piped up, and the woman turned back to her.

“Felix?” she barked, and the little boy behind her nodded his head, confirming it to be true. She clearly wasn’t a woman you could lie to.

“You, miss, are in no position to be trying to burn this boy. I understand he was stealing from you, but if you burn that foot he can’t walk on it for a week. Next time someone’s trying to pull something on you, think about how much you could hurt ‘em and back off a bit. I could teach you a thing or two about how much that bending can damage someone,” the woman said, focusing Sarah under a harsh, disciplining gaze.

Sarah remembered hurriedly patting out the fire her mother had set to her clothes.

“Yeah, sure,” she muttered bitterly, turning to leave.

“Little girl, you have a place to stay?” she asked Sarah’s back. Sarah froze for a brief second and turned around. She looked at the pair standing in the alleyway. A little boy she knew she couldn’t trust and this angry mother hen. But this was a night she didn’t have to spend shamefully walking back to the crew sent to keep her safe, sleeping in a room alone that didn’t feel like hers. This was a place that probably had food. These were people who openly invited her in. These people didn’t know her. They didn’t have to.

Sarah looked into the woman’s eyes and told her the only lie that she would ever successfully get away with.

“No.”

“Call me Mrs. S,” she said, beckoning for Sarah to follow them out the back end of the alleyway. “And stop with that firebending nonsense around here, people’ll be suspicious of you.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is co written with justslayin on tumblr. This chapter was written by me.

The city of Ba Sing Se bustled with life, merchants selling things, children playing games, and people running errands and trying to get from place to place.  The hot, summer sun scorched down; Sarah’s entire body was covered with a sheen of sticky sweat.  It didn’t help that she hadn’t been able to use her firebending in almost a week.  She felt constrained, the flames of rage trapped inside her with no release.  It made her sweat even more.

The heat put everyone in a terrible mood.  Two men walking in opposite directions bumped into each other and jumped into a fighting stance.  A small child playing tag with his friends accidentally bumped into a stand on the street, knocking over a few cabbages, and the merchant shrieked.  A girl struggling to carry groceries home tripped in front of another man, causing him to drop the basket of fruit he carried, and the man was so upset he threatened to call the Dai Li.  It’s not like they would do anything about it.  The Dai Li don’t bother themselves with trivial matters of the Lower Ring.

Everyone on the streets was moody, irritable, and on edge.  It made for an easy distraction.

Sarah walked down one side of the busy street, and when she looked across to the other side, she made eye contact for the briefest of moments with her brother Felix.  He wasn’t really her brother, but they had been living together for four years, and he was better than any of her blood kin ever were.

Sarah noticed they were approaching a large kiosk that sold an assortment of foods: fresh fruits, cooked vegetables, roasted meats, even desserts.  Sarah’s mouth watered.  She glanced at Felix who gave her a quick nod.

Sarah walked faster, pretending to look for someone, distracting herself from where she was going.  She ran into a few people who grumbled at her and pulled their sticky bodies away before Sarah quickly continued on her way.  And suddenly, she ran smack into the kiosk she had been eyeing.  Stacks of moon peaches and mangoes and eggplants tumbled over, falling to the ground.  The merchant looked like he was about to cry.

“Oh, no!” Sarah gasped, feigning innocence.  “I’m so sorry about that!  I wasn’t paying attention!”

The merchant glared at her.  “On a crowded street you should watch where you’re going.”

“I know, I know,” Sarah said, shaking her head.  The merchant bent down and began picking up fruit.  Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah noticed Felix approach the cart from behind.  “Here, let me help you with that.”  Sarah crouched down on the ground next to the man and grabbed a few moon peaches in her hands.  She placed them back on top of the cart, but not before slipping one into her pocket.

She bent down again to grab more fruit at the same time the merchant began to stand up.  Sarah waved her arm and _accidentally_ knocked the fruit out of his hands.  “Oh no!  I’m sorry, I’m so clumsy!”  She reached for more fruit and placed them back on the stand.  She glanced behind the cart and noticed that Felix was gone.

“Just go!” the merchant shouted.  “I can clean this mess up myself!”

Sarah nodded, backing away quickly.  “Again, I am so sorry!” she called.  Felix met her on the corner, carrying a small basket with a sheet draped over it.  “How’d we do?” she asked.

Felix grinned and nudged her with his elbow.  “We won’t be eating jook tonight, that’s for sure!”

“Well done, Fee!”  Sarah ruffled his hair and Felix groaned and swatted her hand away.  He was only three years younger, but Sarah couldn’t help but baby him sometimes.  “Come on, let’s get home.”

Home was a word that Sarah used conservatively.  The place she once called home, Capital City and the waves of the harbor and the tall red walls of the palace, was the furthest thing from her mind when she thought of home.  She looked upon that place, and the people within its walls, with disgust in her heart.

Four years ago, little twelve year old Sarah didn’t have a place she called home.  There was the place she was banished from, the ship she was banished with, and the city she escaped inside.

Now, things were different.  Sarah had a home.  Home was Ba Sing Se.  Home was the brown tiled roof and the stained, off-white walls of their dilapidating little cottage.  Home was Felix and Mrs. S, the only people who ever treated her like family.

Sarah and Felix made their way through the front door of their house, closing it gently so it wouldn’t break.  Sarah doesn’t think she has the patience to fix it _again_.  The three small rooms were empty, so Mrs. S was probably still working at the tea shop.

They sat down in the middle of the floor.  Felix set the basket down between them and placed the sheet on the side.

Sarah rubbed her palms together excitedly.  “What’ve we got?”

Felix began taking things out of the basket and placing them on the sheet.  “Here we’ve got a few platypus bear eggs, bean curd puffs, pau buns, and lychee nuts.  I even managed to grab some duck!  It needs to be roasted though.”

Sarah almost jumped in joy.  “Yes!” she exclaimed, reaching for the raw duck.  “Give it to me!  I can roast it!”

Felix quickly pulled the raw meat away from Sarah’s grasp.  “No!  You know what S says about firebending!”

“Come _on_ , Fee!” Sarah pouted.  “I haven’t used my firebending in almost a week!  It’s killing me!”  Felix didn’t relent and Sarah groaned.  “We’re inside, it’s not like anyone’s going to see!  It’ll take you two hours to get a fire started and roast that duck.  And you’ll probably burn it.”

“Hey!” Felix interjected, glaring at her.

Sarah was not phased and continued.  “I, however, can have that duck roasted to perfection in two seconds.  Give it here!” 

Felix eyed her suspiciously before slowly, reluctantly, handing over the duck.  “Fine,” he huffed.  “But make it quick, we can’t have S finding out!”

“Can’t have me finding out what?”

Sarah and Felix froze and turned their heads to the door.  Siobhan had slipped in so quickly and quietly they hadn’t even noticed, and now they were caught red handed.

“Uhhhh,” Felix muttered.  He didn’t know what to say.

“Did you steal that?” she asked, pointing to the food on the ground.

Slowly and silently, Sarah and Felix nodded their heads.

Siobhan sighed.  “You know I don’t like it when you kids do that.”

“S, we’ve had nothing but jook for the last week!” Sarah said.  “I mean, I like jook, it’s fine, but when you have it every day you get sick of it.”

“I know, love,” Siobhan said, “but it’s all we can afford right now.  Things at the shop have been slow lately.  I’m doing my best.”

“We’re not saying it’s your fault,” Sarah said, shaking her head.  “Not at all!  We just… we want to help.”

“I know you do, but there are other ways of helping.”

“I’m not getting a bloody job, S,” Sarah stated.  “This is what I’m good at.  What we’re good at.”  She gestured between herself and Felix.

Siobhan looked at the two of them and cocked her head to the side.  “I suppose….” she started.  “I suppose if it’s not often, and only when things are slow at the shop, I can make an exception.”

Sarah and Felix whooped in joy.  “Yes!  Thank you!”

Siobhan rolled her eyes.  “Don’t get too excited.  Just roast that duck for us, will you?”

“What about your rule?” Sarah asked.  “I’m not supposed to use my firebending, remember?”

“I might be having to change that rule very soon,” Siobhan replied vaguely.  Sarah looked at her questioningly, but before she could ask anything, Siobhan grabbed the eggs off the sheet and headed to another room.  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make us some cakes to go with this lovely meal.  Care to help me in the kitchen, Felix?”

“Yeah!” Felix exclaimed.  He jumped up and darted into the kitchen after her.

Sarah was left by herself in the front room, pondering the meaning of Siobhan’s comment.  Why would she be changing her rule?  Did that mean Sarah would get to firebend whenever she wanted?  The thought brought a smile to her lips.  She missed being able to firebend freely.  She missed the surge exhilaration and power that came from flames dancing at her fingertips.  Sarah loved Ba Sing Se, but having to suppress her powers made Sarah feel like she wasn’t herself.  She relished in every opportunity to set something on fire or heat something up or, in this case, roast a duck.

Sarah held the dead, skinned, gutted animal in her hands in front of her.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  She released the heat and let the flames surge from her palms, engulfing the bird, but only for a moment.

The duck was crispy and brown and smelled delicious, but was also too hot for her to hold.  Sarah dropped it back on the sheet and looked at her hands.  Her skin tingled from the flames that were there just a moment ago.  She looked into the kitchen to find Siobhan and Felix distracted with mixing eggs and flour into a bowl, so Sarah held out her hands once more.

The smallest spark of a flame grew on the palm of her hand.  Sarah grinned and a pleased giggle escaped from her lips.  She let the flame grow in size so it was roughly the size of a ball she could throw with one hand.  Sarah bounced the flame back and forth between her hands, feeling the heat dance against her skin, feeling the rush of letting the flame grow larger.  Sarah played with her ball of fire and giggled like a schoolgirl with a crush.

Eventually, Sarah let the flame die out.  She was far from satisfied, but it was enough to satiate her for the time being, until the next time she could firebend.  She longed for the day she could use her powers freely, using them for good.  She wanted to start fires for cooking.  She wanted to shoot flames from her fists at anyone that hurt Felix.  She wanted to give her mother a taste of her own medicine.

Soon, all the food was done, and Sarah, Felix, and Siobhan sat around their small table to eat it.  They stuffed their mouth with roast duck and bean curd puffs and pau buns, and for dessert, Siobhan brought out the sweet cakes she made with Felix’s help.  It had been too long since they had an actual meal for dinner, and this one was delicious.

It wasn’t until they were cleaning up the table that Sarah let her curiosity get the better of her.

“S?” she asked.  “What did you mean when you said you might have to change your rule?”

Felix stopped what he was doing and looked at her expectantly, just as curious as Sarah was.  Siobhan sighed and set down the plate she was washing.

“I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you,” she muttered.  “Sit down, both of you.”  Sarah and Felix sat back down at the table and looked up at her, waiting for an explanation.  “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Fire Nation has just invaded Makapu and Senlin.”  Sarah’s eyes widened.  She and Felix both shook their heads.  “I didn’t think so.  The villages are only on the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom, but they’ve got plans.  My sources tell me something bigger is coming.  That means it’s time to act.”

“What do you mean?” Felix asked.

“I have contacts, all over the world.  We’re planning on building an army.  An army of… freedom fighters.  We’re trying to recruit people from every nation.  That’s why we need you, Sarah.  You’re our firebender.”

Sarah’s mouth fell open and she blinked a few times.  “Me?” she asked.  Siobhan nodded.  “But—but I can’t be your firebender.  I haven’t had a proper lesson since I was twelve!  I haven’t even done any real firebending in the last four years!  I can’t!”

“Yes, you can, Sarah,” Siobhan said plainly.  “And you’ll have time to practice, don’t worry.  We’ll be traveling for a while.  I’m currently making arrangements to leave the city and head to the Eastern Air Temple to seek out any Air Nomads that would like to join our cause.”

“Aren’t all airbenders pacifists?” Felix asked.

Siobhan shrugged.  “I guess we’ll find out.”  Sarah and Felix said nothing, too shocked at the information their foster mother had just given them.  “I hate to drop it on you like this,” she said.  “But you were going to find out soon enough and I want you to be ready.  We’re leaving within the week.”

Later that night, once she was sure Siobhan and Felix were already asleep, she snuck out of the comfort of their house and into the city.  She loved wandering around the streets of Ba Sing Se at night.  It was empty.  Many people believed it to be dangerous and stayed in their homes once it was too late.  And sure sometimes there was a pickpocket or two but it was nothing that Sarah couldn’t handle.

Sarah walked around the streets to her favorite places.  She passed by the monorail stop that she and Felix would take out to the Agrarian zone to visit the zoo sometimes.  She peered through the windows of Siobhan’s tea shop, where once, she and Felix were banned from entering for a whole year because they broke half the cups and scared off a few customers.  Finally she ended up at the Firelight Fountain.

The Firelight Fountain was Sarah’s favorite place in the city because, sometimes, if she came late enough, it would be empty and the lanterns would not be lit and she was able to use her firebending to light them, casting a beautiful glow over the water and the surrounding buildings.

Unfortunately, tonight, the lanterns were still lit, so Sarah sat at the edge of the fountain.  She took the moon peach she swiped earlier from her pocket and bit into it.  Sweet juice dripped down her chin as she looked around at the city, thought about the places she passed, and realized she wouldn’t miss them.  Sure, she loved Ba Sing Se, but, besides Capitol City, it was the only thing she had ever known.  This was her chance to go out and see the world and actually use her powers freely.  She was ready to leave this behind, because the only things that mattered, what made Ba Sing Se feel like home, were Mrs. S and Felix, and they would be coming with her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah, Felix, and Siobhan travel to the Eastern Air Temple where they meet an airbender named Cosima

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written by justslayin on tumblr!

Cosima was restless. She was always restless. Sometimes, it was a buzz in the back of her mind while she was busy having fun. Other times, it was all-encompassing.

This was one of those times.

Her room was barren, she was redecorating again. Her drawings that had adorned the walls before were folded and stacked in a corner. It was a clear day outside, warmer than usual but the chill that came with living on top of a mountain remained. She sat on her bed by the window, looking out into the bright day and down into the sky bison pen. Darwin, her sky bison, was wrestling one of his brothers for an apple.

Cosima grabbed her staff and jumped out of her window, gliding down from her third story room to the pen. She landed next to the apple they were fighting over and scooped it up. The sky bison stopped wrestling, staring at the treat in her hand with abrupt grunts. She took a bite and tossed it to Darwin, who caught it in his mouth with a pleased roar. His brother climbed off of him and slunk away. Darwin ambled over to Cosima.

“Hey buddy,” she said, scratching his head. He flopped down on the ground, she jumped on top of his head to get a better angle for petting. “What should we do today, huh? Wanna fly somewhere?”

Cosima couldn’t get away from the Eastern Air Temple enough. Sometimes her friends went with her on her excursions, but for the most part they liked to stay home. She didn’t understand it, it made her want to leave more. Air nomads were wanderers, but they always had somewhere to come back to. She felt estranged for not feeling the same.

“You aren’t strange for wanting to leave,” her mentor,  Sister Jangbu, told her while she was in an impatient mood one day. “You haven’t found a home within yourself yet, and you’re young. Our Sisters, and some of your peers, have found that solidarity. You want the world to teach it to you. You’ll get your chance to do so one day, I have no doubt. But Cosima, when you find that peace, it will anchor you somewhere, even though it makes everywhere your home.”

Jangbu and her friends made her love the Eastern Air Temple. Cosima just couldn’t shake the feeling she’d love somewhere else more, and she wasn’t willing to give that idea up.

“Cosima!” a girl her age yelled as she ran by. “There are visitors on the third mountain! Let’s go say hi!”

“Well, I know where we’re gonna go today,” she mumbled to Darwin, sliding down his neck to sit in a flying position. He grunted and they took off, following the rush of people to meet the outsiders.

 

It had been a long journey so far. Felix and Sarah were restless. Sarah knew how to hide it so she wouldn’t bother Mrs. S, who already had enough on her plate with navigation and travel plans. Felix wasn’t so sensitive. He moaned when he was hungry, whined about his travel weariness. The women snapped at him often.

Mrs. S tried to take the most direct route to the Eastern Air Temple. Instead of traveling through established towns with resources, there was a lot of hitching rides on carts, dirt roads, and dinnerless nights. Mrs. S reminded them it was cutting back on weeks of travel. Her children were grouchy.

It was an exciting change of pace when they caught their ferry from the tip of Chameleon Bay. Felix loved the boat, but it made Sarah anxious. Mrs. S rubbed her shoulders when they sat under blankets at night. It made Sarah feel a bit better. Luckily for her, it was the shortest part of their journey. Soon they reached the island, Mrs. S got in touch with her contact, and they were on top of the mountain within two days of getting off the boat.

Sarah was taken aback by the beauty of the temple. The architecture was astounding, the sloped roofs and balance on the sides of the mountains took her breath away. What touched her more, though, was the sense of peace she felt while there. The place felt lively and emotional, but not chaotic. It was different than Ba Sing Se. She saw no crime, no filth, no depravity. Sarah watched Felix’s face, and he looked just as awestruck as she was. Mrs. S looked more at ease, she had been there before.

People started to gather around, especially children dressed in red and yellow, running up or floating peacefully down to where they walked.

“Looks like they don’t get visitors often, eh?” Sarah mumbled to her brother, elbowing him in the ribs.

“Can’t imagine why,” he replied, waving back to an eager airbender girl.

Mrs. S walked up to a woman about her age, waiting for them on a stone dias at the end of the walkway they had been on.

“Welcome back, Siobhan,” Sister Jangbu said, smiling widely as they approached.

“It’s always a pleasure,” Mrs. S said. The women bowed to each other. Sarah and Felix exchanged glances, unsure of what to do.

“These are my children,” Mrs. S said, stepping aside and gesturing behind her at Sarah and Felix. They suddenly felt unprepared to meet anyone, especially this woman. She looked pristine and knowledgeable. They were in old, dirty Earth Kingdom clothes and their eyes were tired. Jangbu bowed to them. It took the kids a second and a panicked moment of eye contact before they both bowed back. Mrs. S graciously chose to find it amusing instead of embarrassing, and she and Jangbu shared a brief chuckle. Felix blushed.

“I understand you’ve come a long way, but we have a lot to talk about and I assume you’re in a hurry. Will you join me in one of our meeting rooms?” Janbu said, gesturing further down a path behind her.

“Of course,” Mrs. S replied.

“Will your children be joining us? They’re free to play with my kids, I’m sure they’d be entertained, especially if someone brought their sky bison down.”

“Sky bison?” Felix asked incredulously, and Jangbu gave him a quick wink. It made Sarah trust her a little more.

“Ah, they can play later. They’re as big of a part of this as I am, they should know whatever it is we’re talking about.”

Jangbu nodded and led the way down to where they could all sit.

Sarah brought up the rear of their group. As they walked inside, she caught a glimpse of a white, furry creature landing down on the pathway from the sky. A girl sat on top of it. Sarah’s breath was taken away for a moment, the combined shock of seeing the sky bison and the girl riding it. She looked just as excited to see Sarah as Sarah was to see her.

 

“In short, I think you’re going to have a hard time recruiting here. I can’t keep any of the girls here if they would like to go with you, but they’re dedicated to their training. If not that, they’ve truly found a home in this place. But I believe wholeheartedly in your cause, and you’re free to stay as long as you want and talk to as many of our airbenders as you want.”

Jangbu was kind, but Mrs. S’s face was grim. She knew it was true, probably from the start, Sarah guessed, but it was clear she expected more.

“We’re gracious for the hospitality, but I’m sure you won’t be in your hair for long,” Mrs. S said, forcing a smile and standing. The other three in the room did the same.

“I’ll show you to where you’ll be sleeping.”

 

After their things had been put away and Mrs. S had cut them loose to go explore, Felix and Sarah returned to the walkway they had entered on, the only place they knew. The curious girls and women that had come to watch them enter had dissipated. A few people hung around, but they were playing airbending games and chatting with each other. They turned and smiled, a few waved.

“As we were walking in Fe, did you see the girl on the sky bison?” Sarah asked.

“What? You saw a sky bison and didn’t tell me?” Felix said angrily. Sarah sighed.

“That’s a no, then.”

A young girl, about Felix’s age, snuck swiftly up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

“If you want to see a sky bison I have one,” she said. “My name is Senge. My bison’s name is Hye. We can ride on her.”

Felix looked up at Sarah with bright eyes. “I’m doing that,” he said, looking back at the girl. She beamed, excited to show off. Sarah nodded, apathetic, and Senge and Felix ran off together.

It felt odd to let Felix run away with a stranger, but Sarah didn’t sense anything bad here. She wandered, not in the mood to talk, and found a tree to sit under. She looked around for Mrs. S, still unsure of the state of the firebending rule. She created a little ball of flame and tossed it back and forth between her hands.

A girl jumped down from the top of the tree, dark hair flying.

“Oh shite,” Sarah gasped, letting the flame die.

“So you’re a firebender,” the airbender said, smiling. She was fidgety and gave off a nervous air, but there was something decidedly calm about her manor.

“Who wants to know?” Sarah grumbled, meeting the girls eyes with a scowl.

“I’m Cosima,” she girl said, a grin on her face. “I heard you’re here to ask kids if they want to go away with you.”

“Yeah, the Fire Nation’s up to something, they’re trying to take land that’s not theirs and we need talented people… Like you, I suppose, to-”

“Yeah, that’s great. I want to come.”


End file.
